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Timber!

26 June 1999

Brazil is not only the largest producer of tropical hardwood—it is also
its biggest consumer. A report from groups including Friends of the Earth and
the Institute for Man and the Environment in the Amazon, based in Belém,
concludes that southern Brazil has “the most intense consumption of tropical
timber in the world”. Brazil consumes 23 per cent of the world’s tropical
hardwood, followed by Japan at 19 per cent. The report adds that strategies to
combat deforestation in the Amazon need to focus more on reducing the domestic
timber market.